Dearbhla Rooney advanced to the last four of the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires in the early hours of this morning.
The Leitrim featherweight beat America’s Linda Martinez on a unanimous decision – 30-27 across the board – to advance to the semi-finals.
She’ll now meet an opponent to be confirmed in the semi-finals with at least a silver medal up for grabs. “I was happy with how I fought. The first fight is always tough,” she said.
Minister Ring with IABA management, coaches and Elite boxers at the National Stadium gym today
Minister Ring Gloves Up for Rio Gold
Michael Ring TD, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, was a special guest of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) at the High Performance Boxing Unit today at the National Stadium.
The Minister visited the home of Irish boxing to mark the milestone of 150 days to go to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Bernaldo Marime (blue) in action in Ireland
The Irish Athletic Boxing Association wish Bernaldo Marime the best of luck in the African Rio 2016 qualifiers.
The Holy Trinity BC light-welter lost to eventual champion Dean Walsh in last November’s Elite Championships at Dublin’s National Stadium.
But Marime, who was born Mozambique before moving to Tyrone aged 12, is now, boxing for Mozambique, who have employed a Cuban coach, aiming to qualify for Rio through the African qualifiers, which begin in Yaounde, Cameroon on Friday.
Michael O’Reilly (blue) in action
Team Ireland depart for the 35th Gee Multi-Nations in Helsinki, Finland tomorrow morning. Boxing begins Friday in the Finnish capital.
European Games bronze medallist Sean McComb has withdrawn from the team after picking up the flu.
European Games champion Michael O’Reilly has one eye on next month’s European Olympic qualifiers in Samsun, Turkey.
IABA MARKS 150 DAYS TO RIO WITH THE LAUNCH OF IT’S ‘LET’S KO BULLYING’ CAMPAIGN
Olympic champion Michael Carruth, IABA CEO Fergal Carruth, Rio 2016 Olympian Joe Ward and IABA President Pat Ryan at today’s launch
(Please scroll down for extra pictures from today’s launch)
The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) officially launched its new ‘Let’s KO Bullying’ Campaign at Dublin’s National Stadium this afternoon.